So far I have been in Ukraine for only a week, but it feels as though
it has been much longer. In Kirovograd, I am living with a family, who
from the moment I arrived has made me feel like part of their family.
They have a fourteen year old daughter who showed me around the center
of Kirovograd as well as took me to Dendra Park for a ride on the Ferris
wheel. They have invited me to take part in different parts of
Ukrainian life as well. During my first weekend here, I experienced my
first Ukrainian sauna, complete with tea and shashlik. Through a
connection at TORO, I was able to take part in an English lesson for a
group of eleven-year olds. I was very impressed with how much they could
already understand of English and wished that I had started to learn
Russian at such a young age. Also this week I went on a day trip with my
host family to the Crimea. They were taking their daughter to a summer
camp and I was invited to go with them. Aside from the seven hour
drive, it was amazing! In the United States, I live in New Hampshire on
the east coast, which means that I can go to the ocean often. The ocean
is always very cold, even in the summer, so swimming in the Black Sea
was such a treat because of how warm the water was. After swimming, we
continued down to Sevastopol, the drive on the way there was so
beautiful, with the mountains and the vineyards on either side of the
road. Sevastopol is an amazing city, I have learned a lot about its
history in my studies, but actually being there was something quite
different. The city is built into the mountains around a cove, and the
view from it is absolutely breath taking! Everything so far has been so
new and interesting for me, I am excited for what is to come next!
I am particularly excited to be working with TORO this summer, although I have just started, I am finding everyone very nice and wanting to make my experiences there both enjoyable and educational. I hope to learn lots about the Ukrainian people and their culture while I am living here in Kirovograd.
My name is Abby and I am visiting Ukraine for two months. I am from New Hampshire, which is a small state in Northeastern, United States. I currently attend Connecticut College and in the Fall I will be starting my fourth and final year. I am majoring in International Relations and Russian language and this past fall I studied abroad in Vladimir, Russia.
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